Hanoi, 11/11/2014

Hanoi, 11/11/2014

We have been trying to determine what we did to offend the travel gods at Bangkok International Airport.  Whatever we did, it must have been horrible because BKK got us again yesterday. Our flight from Chiang Mai was spot on time in departing and it landed a few minutes early so we weren’t terribly concerned about making our connection that was 75 minutes later.  But we taxied for far too long and passed all the gates, which meant only one thing: a remote parking slot with a bus to the terminal.  We then had to deplane down a rather steep stairway, which caused a lot of back-up since so many people had carry-ons with wheels, which of course were of no value on these stairs.  Then it was a bit of a walk to the waiting busses and more delays while they waited to fill them to capacity.  We now had only 45 minutes and we were still on the bus, which was waiting for another plane to cross the threshold. 

We got to the domestic arrivals area and those of us with international connections were herded to another security area, despite the fact that we had cleared security and immigration in Chiang Mai.  Finally through all the formalities, we were in the middle of the international departures D gates and had to look for a departure board to find out we needed to be in C concourse, a long ways from D.  Off we went on our long fast march and finally up to the C concourse where there was yet another security check.  We made it with a few minutes to spare but we were once again hot and sweaty as we got on the plane.

Our flight was on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which I had been looking forward to flying for quite awhile.  It is a lovely looking airplane made with composite materials, which makes it much lighter and more fuel-efficient.  By coincidence, we had met about five Boeing flight instructors at the Manager’s cocktail part at the Pan Pacific last week.  Boeing has a training facility there for the 787 so these guys were the experts and gave me lots of insights into the plane.  One of the cool things is that this plane does not need to ‘step up’ to cruising altitude. On normal big jets you need to burn fuel to lighten the plane to climb, which means going to 15,000 for awhile then to 25,000 for awhile, etc. With the 787 we were at 41,000 feet in 22 minutes!!  Two other things are unique to this aircraft. The windows, which are huge for an airplane, use an electronic shading system instead of a physical shade to control light, which means you can always see outside.  This craft also has a much better humidity and air flow control. The trainers told us that the flight attendants love this plane since they feel so much better after a long flight. Our flight was only 90 minutes but it was surely comfortable.

We arrived well after dark and had to process our Visa Applications, which was a bit of a farce.  It reminded me of the old days in Italy when we had to pay our utility bill. It involved going to four desks, getting four stamps and then being allowed to pay.  Same in Hanoi.  Give your passport and all of the paperwork to one person and then walk around the corner to the other end of the office and watch as your paperwork is passed from one uniformed officer to another, each time getting a stamp, a close inspection and a hand-off.   Fifteen minutes later (it seemed like hours!), we were allowed to give them US$90 and get back our passports with visas attached.  We were then off to the immigration lines and finally to baggage and out to the arrivals area. Our driver was waiting and 45 minutes later we were here at the Hanoi Hilton, not the one that McCain lived in during the 70’s but the one next to the Hanoi Opera.  It was here that our good karma caught up with us. Upon check-in I was told that since I was a Hilton Diamond Club member we had been upgraded to a King Suite. In my head I was forming the words, I’m not a diamond member, but all that came out was thank you, which I said in Vietnamese.  We are ever so happy with our one bedroom suite, which has great views of the city and the Opera next door, and now look forward to exploring this city.  Cindy and Wm